Movies, music and books we're into this week

I really like Melissa McCarthy. In general, she's quite funny. But she also chooses to do some terrible movies. Can You Ever Forgive Me? is not one of those, thankfully. And though McCarthy tends to do comedies, and this film is indeed funny, it's also more of drama than most of her films.It's the supposedly-true story of a struggling, alcoholic author in New York City (Lee Israel), who after failing to write her next 'great' novel, decides to begin forging letters from other famous and deceased authors and then selling them to collector shops throughout the city. It goes well at first, but the whole thing quickly crashes and burns when the shops she is selling to catch on to her act.It's definitely a funny movie, but there are some truly dark aspects of it too, like just how lonely and desperate the woman's life becomes when she's unable to pay her bills and has to resort to deception. McCarthy is also spectacular in what is a much more serious role than she often appears in. I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it.

The latest How to Train your Dragon instalment is out in theaters right now, but if you've yet to see the first and second movies, you're probably wondering what it's all about. Luckily, you can grab both movies as a bundle to be better prepped when walking into the screen for The Hidden World.The How to Train your Dragon series follows a young Viking chief's son who tries to prove his worth within the tribe and fosters an unexpected bond with a dragon. Attempting to get dragons and Vikings working together is a completely different issue. Overcoming various problems and hurdles, the pair along with friends beat down their foes in tense action.

A Moon Shaped Pool is not only one of my favorite Radiohead records, but it's up there with my all-time faves. The whole thing just has this spectral beauty to it that keeps me coming back again and again. It's right up there with OK Computer for me.Of course, Radiohead is one of those bands that seems to inspire a lot of heated opinions one way or the other, so your mileage may vary. If you're not down for a full listen, then I'd definitely recommend checking out at least the following tracks: Decks Dark, Ful Stop, Identikit, and Burn the Witch.

Lorn is a subversive alternative electronic artist who caught some mainstream attention with the incredibly evocative video for Acid Rain. Lorn has been bumping out high-quality content throughout his career, recently launching Remnant/Rarities containing some older, previously unreleased works.If you're into electronic music and find the above samples interesting, Lorn's Vessel album is a good place to start. The album plays like the soundtrack to an unreleased cyberpunk dystopia movie, with some masterful bass work and Aphex Twin-inspired glitchy leanings.

I am a big fan of Haruki Murakami, and new releases from the Japanese author are sort of like an unofficial holiday. The English translation was released late 2018, but I only recently picked it up (my backlog of books is ridiculous). I plan on jumping into it this weekend, as long as the Division 2 open beta doesn't take up too much of my time.Killing Commendatore seems to be in the same vein as most Murakami work, which generally involves an unsuspecting protagonist thrust into a mystery that involves ethereal beings, war, plenty of cooking, and love lost or found.

I first picked up this mystery-thriller set in London after seeing that it had received very positive reviews on a number of sites, including Amazon and Goodreads. But I don't know what the hell all those people were thinking, but this book isn't good. And though it started off well, it's completely cookie-cutter and uninspired, and downright unsatisfying. At least that's what I think.The book is about a 15-year-old girl who goes missing and her mother's struggle to overcome the loss of a child. But 10 years later, just as the mother meets a man she thinks could potential help her put the terrible incident in the past, she learns that he is actually wrapped up in the whole thing.The worst part of this book is how awkwardly the author handles the sensitive subjects of kidnapping, sexual abuse, loss and murder. The whole thing just feels totally off, and the plot is completely predictable from the early pages. I'd say don't read this book, because it sucks, but clearly lots of other people like it. So you might want to check it out just to see which side you fall on. (But if you like it, you're wrong.)